Wheel Color

cpr3333

My ’50 Pacemaker Deluxe has cream colored wheels and I’m pretty sure it came from the factory that way. My ’50 Pacemaker (non-deluxe parts car) has body colored wheels but they could have been painted at some point. I seem to remember hearing or reading that cars with full wheel covers (hubcap and trim ring) came with cream wheels and cars with only hubcaps came with body colored wheels. Is there any truth in that?

If so, it matches my situation but…

The trim rings I have on my car don’t look like any other ones I’ve seen on Hudsons and I’ve been told that they are not correct. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure they were on the car when it was purchased new by my father’s uncle. I have pictures of the car dated June, 1950 and the trim rings are on the car. My father tells me that his uncle was notoriously thrifty (to be polite about it) and would never have spent any money on something as extravagant as trim rings.

This brings me back to the original question. Did the wheel covers have anything to do with wheel colors? If not, one explanation for my seemingly non-correct trim rings could be that they were put on by the dealer to dress it up before it was sold. It also has sun visors on the side windows and some unusual bumper guards that may be explained the same way. If so, why the odd trim rings? Were they replaced at the dealer or do I just have a set that were only used for a short run?

Browniepetersen

I just painted my 50 Commodore sedan, but I have not painted the wheels yet. My sources (totally unofficial so it will be intresting to hear some knowledgable comments) tell me that the wheels on the 50's were red or body color. The wheel covers, hub caps or beauty rings would not have made a difference.

I am not sure if "correct" beauty rings are available. I normally pick up the ones that are reproduced for the " 30's Ford's." They have three small imprints near the center and look very close to the originals. You might want to post a photo of your car and a close-up of the beauty rings so we can get a true assessment from those who know this stuff....

hdsn49

It is my understanding for 48-50 Hudsons most wheels were cream in color. If the car was one of the grays or bronze then the wheels were painted royal red. Also some of the blues had red wheels.

53jetman

hdsn49 wrote:

It is my understanding for 48-50 Hudsons most wheels were cream in color. If the car was one of the grays or bronze then the wheels were painted royal red. Also some of the blues had red wheels.

This is what I remember, however the medium and darker blue cars had cream wheels. Beginning in 1951, the cars came thru with the wheels painted body color. When a car was two toned, the dealer could order the wheels the color of the upper color if he so desired.

53jetman

hdsn49 wrote:

It is my understanding for 48-50 Hudsons most wheels were cream in color. If the car was one of the grays or bronze then the wheels were painted royal red. Also some of the blues had red wheels.

48super6

I don't know which colors got the red or cream wheels- my maroon '48 has the red wheels (not the body color). I've been told you could order the body colored wheels from the factory (or maybe it was the dealers who would offer it). When the wheels got chipped up with use, or the vehicles got "cleaned up" for the used car market, people often repainted them body color, since it was done on the newer models. I don't believe the type of wheel covers or trim rings made any difference.

onerare39

Another wheel color question...

1950 Pacemaker Convertible!
(January/February 2009 WTN, back cover)

Going back to original cream yellow body.

What color wheels would have come from the factory?

cpr3333

Thanks for the feedback.

I just looked at some brochures on oldcarbrochures.com (nice site, by the way)and here is what I saw:

1948 – red, green and blue cars shown with cream wheels, brownish (bronze?) car shown with red wheels

1949 – no color brochure

1950 – dark red (maroon?), green, blue and red cars shown with cream wheels, red and yellow cars shown with red wheels (yes – red cars are shown both ways)

1951 – all have body colored wheels

1952, 1953, 1954 - all have body colored wheels, two-tones match lower body color

Of course all of these are just drawings and not all colors are shown, but it does seem to generally agree with what’s been posted so far.

As to the trim rings, I'll try to get a few pictures this weekend. Right or wrong though, they're going back on. They've been with the car for 60 years and I'm not going to split them up now.